The Apathetic Mage Loves Cats

Chapter 24.5: Mothers

Thump. Thump. Thump. Drag. Thump. Thump. Thump. Drag.

My eyes wandered over to Caiden as he sat at his desk. His right index fingernail tapped the desk three times before he scratched at it creating an insistent noise in the otherwise silent room. Its irritating rhythm prickled at my skull as I struggled to read over the documents sent to me by Romand. Although it wasn't anything serious; it was mainly describing what incidents had occurred on the island while I had been bodyguarding Caiden these past few months. It was also some documents regarding which the shifts in which the mages would be coming down to us to aid in watching over the kingdom. Though it wasn't that important, it wasn't like I too wasn't busy with the work I had piled up. However, now I felt like I was some secretary whose job was to watch and cater to their master's needs. I gave a slight sigh and placed all the papers down on the coffee table I had in front of me. I then stood up and stretched, watching out of the corner of my eye as Caiden's face seemed to come to life.

"Are you finished with work?" Caiden asked, a hopeful tone to his voice. I looked over at my paperwork, then up at the clock which stated that it had barely been two hours that we were in his office working. Then, I looked over at him and saw that his face revealed that if I had said no to him at any point in our conversation, he would be extremely discouraged. So, I decided to suck it up and humor him for a while. At least, until we could get back to work. So, I turned to him and smiled.

"Should we go on a walk to take a break?" Caiden's smile almost made up for the amount of work that I knew would be piling up even if it was only one day's worth of work. Caiden quickly walked over to me and grabbed my forearm.

"I've been wanting to leave for a while. It'll be good to get some air, you said that before, right?" Caiden's grip was firm, as if, despite the fact that I was the one who suggested we take a break, at any moment I would run away and force him to go back to work. I just played along with it, allowing him to drag me towards the doors to his office where he pushed them open. He startled the guards standing post, but they quickly put back on a poker face by the time we walked by. "Today is supposed to be beautiful, should we go to the flower garden? I heard they just finished cleaning up the yard and I haven't been there in a while." Caiden continued to drag me through the halls, his steps slightly bouncing in happiness along the way.

We turned the corner and made our way outside through a back door, which lead towards the garden, and further beyond that were the woods. I hardly ever went back here, mostly because I had to be around Caiden, and he hardly ever got enough free time to be able to explore and relax in the garden. Additionally, I wasn't the biggest fan of being outside. I didn't really find any interest in the outdoors compared to being inside, so I just preferred to stay in and relax.

However, as we left the castle, Caiden let go of my forearm and quickly dashed out from under the awning and into the sun. I watched as the tension seemed to drain out of his body as he came into contact with the sun. His eyes were shut, and his head was tilted back as he allowed the sun to beat down on his face; like a man starved for water. He looked so stunning and glowing under rays of the sun that I didn't really care about being outside. And, as I watched him turn towards me with a satisfying smile, I felt that my choice was the best one I could've made.

"Should we go look around the garden?"

***

"I didn't really get to play outside much when I was a kid," Caiden said, startling me slightly. Since he suggested we just explore the garden, we had pretty much been walking in silence. It was a beautiful garden; the workers did a magnificent job creating a space that allowed just enough freedom to seem like you were in your own little space but also allowed a system for guards to watch over.